Renewable Energy

[steve dave]

[Brock Landers]

Counter-Earth doesn't seem a whole lot different than real Earth IMO

[Stupid Fitz]

Counter-Earth doesn't seem a whole lot different than real Earth IMO

No, we would never invade Mexico. We should, but we won't.

[Fake Sugar Dick (WARNING, NOT THE REAL SUGAR DICK!)]

That comic strip is so poorly written and so pathetically desperate that I can't tell if it was written with full knowledge or in complete ignorance of the following current event:

House probing $528M loan to failed solar company

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans questioned Wednesday whether the White House rushed approval of a half-billion-dollar loan guarantee for a now-bankrupt solar panel manufacturer once cited as the kind of renewable energy company worthy of federal stimulus money.

Solyndra Inc. was a major presence in Washington and spent millions of dollars on lobbying there, particularly about the Energy Department's loan guarantee program. And its executives raised thousands of dollars for Obama and Democrats in Congress.

The collapse of the Fremont, Calif.-based company once touted by President Barack Obama ultimately left taxpayers on the hook for $528 million, raising questions if the loan was rushed to accommodate a company event in September 2009 that featured Vice President Joe Biden.

The congressional panel examining the loan disclosed emails that appeared to show senior staff at the Office of Management and Budget chafing about having to conduct "rushed approvals" of federal loan guarantees designed to help jumpstart the nation's renewable energy industry.

"We would prefer to have sufficient time to do our due diligence reviews and have the approval set the date for the announcement rather than the other way around," said one of the emails from an unnamed OMB aide to Biden's office.

Obama cited Solyndra as an example of how the economic stimulus bill would create jobs. But the company has since filed for bankruptcy and shed 1,100 workers, saying it couldn't compete with foreign manufacturers of solar panels.

Documents reviewed by The Associated Press show Solyndra spent nearly $2 million lobbying the federal government during the last four years, including on provisions of the Energy Department's loan program just months before White House officials urged that the funds be approved.

In the first quarter of 2009, Solyndra paid McBee Strategic Consulting $20,000 to lobby on issues related to the Energy Department's loan guarantee program, records show, and it paid $30,000 in early 2008 to Dutko Worldwide to handle Solyndra's loan application.

Republican lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee's investigations panel are questioning why there was a rush to approve the loan and whether the entire loan guarantee program is warranted. "Our investigation raises several questions about whether the administration did everything it could to protect taxpayer dollars," said the committee's chairman, Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the emails don't suggest that the White House was pushing for the loan to be made.

"What the emails make clear is there was urgency to make a decision on a scheduling matter. It is a big proposition to move the president or to put on an event and that sort of thing so people were simply looking for answers about whether or not people could move forward," Carney told reporters at the White House.

"It had nothing to — and there is no evidence to the contrary — nothing to do with anything besides the need to get an answer to make a scheduling decision," he said.

The Obama administration and Democratic lawmakers have aggressively sought to invest in renewable energy projects as a way to create jobs and to reduce the nation's reliance on oil. They note that other countries are also investing heavily in solar and that the race for solar manufacturing jobs is worth winning because the global market is going to be worth trillions of dollars.

The Solyndra fallout comes at an embarrassing time for the White House, while Obama is traveling the country promoting his jobs plan, which includes more investments in renewable energy.

The subcommittee has been investigating Solyndra for nearly six months as it began to have financial troubles. Shortly after the filing, FBI officials raided the company's headquarters; the company said the FBI was seeking records on the loans.

An AP review of Federal Election Commission records shows Solyndra executives have given to both Obama and Democratic-aligned groups. Ben Bierman, Solyndra's executive vice president, and Karen Alter, the firm's marketing vice president, contributed more than $3,500 to Obama's campaign. And one of the company's investors, George Kaiser, was a "bundler" for Obama's 2008 campaign, raising between $50,000 and $100,000 for the president, records show.

Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee had questioned the basis of the Solyndra investigation and in July had voted against issuing subpoenas for documents from OMB. But after the bankruptcy and FBI raid, Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., described the loan Wednesday as a "debacle."

But Democrats also argued that it's not clear whether the company's financial woes were just a result of unforeseen market conditions or sloppy vetting or corporate malfeasance.

Democrats also said that failure to invest in the U.S. solar industry would amount to an economic death sentence that would allow other nations to dominate a growing business.

"If you live in reality, you know the world cannot continue its dependence on fossil fuels and that we are in danger of losing this industry to our competitors, especially China," said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif.

Federal officials told lawmakers that Solyndra went through three years of review, beginning with the Bush administration, before any taxpayer money was put at risk. Jonathan Silver, executive director of the Energy Department's loan program office, said that the company was well positioned to succeed in 2009.

But Chinese companies have flooded the market with inexpensive panels, and Europe's economy weakened demand from customers. The result has been an unprecedented drop in solar cell prices this year.

Silver said the loan guarantee program is about giving U.S. companies the tools they need to succeed in the world marketplace, and one of those tools, as other countries have learned, is low-cost financing.

"This isn't picking winners and losers. It is helping ensure that we have winners here at all," Silver said.

But GOP officials disputed that the Bush administration was willing to go along with a loan guarantee for Solyndra, noting that an Energy Department committee voted against offering a conditional commitment to Solyndra in January 2009. The committee said the deal was premature and questioned its underlying financial support, said Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., chairman of the House energy panel.

Two Solyndra executives were asked to testify Wednesday but are now expected to appear next week.

Under a loan guarantee, the government will cover a loan in the event of a default. Normally, private banks provide the loans, but in this case, Solyndra borrowed the money from the Federal Financing Bank. The government guaranteed up to $535 million in loans, and Solyndra's bankruptcy filings showed that it has received almost $528 million in federal loans.

These people are crooks and belong in jail.  All of them.  There is no such thing as "government investment" it has no capital of its own at stake.  OPM muthafuckas, OPM.

[john "teach me how to" dougie]

George Kaiser, Solyndra's chief investor,was a top 2008 fundraiser for Obama and met with White House officials in 2009 as the loan was in the approval process.

LOL

[DQ12]

Counter-Earth doesn't seem a whole lot different than real Earth IMO

No, we would never invade Mexico. We should, but we won't.

[pike]

If Mexico was full of oil or lithium or anything else valuable it would already be annexed by now.

[Stupid Fitz]

If Mexico was full of oil or lithium or anything else valuable it would already be annexed by now.

Beaches

[Tobias]

If Mexico was full of oil or lithium or anything else valuable it would already be annexed by now.

Beaches

 

[Stupid Fitz]

If Mexico was full of oil or lithium or anything else valuable it would already be annexed by now.

Beaches

 

[OregonSmock]

Corporate profits are more important than clean air, water, and people in general. 

[sonofdaxjones]

Yeah let's try to build a decent alternative energy system without the the profit motive . . . 

Of course, if we want our economy to prosper again, we won't be able to fully replace the traditional energy production system for decades.

[DQ12]

If Mexico was full of oil or lithium or anything else valuable it would already be annexed by now.

Fun fact, after the Mexican American War there were a lot of expansionists who were in favor of annexing the entire Mexican territory.  The "All-Mexico" movement was ended by President Polk (who was a huge bad person btw) because he didn't want to be responsible for Mexico's "unsavory population."  So the US just took the sparsely populated area that is now the US Southwest.

[sys]

mexico was full of oil.  gold, silver & copper too.

[Kat Kid]

mexico was full of oil.  gold, silver & copper too.

....and awesome beaches, Grander than Grand canyons, jungle mountains, bullfighters, bandalero wearing dudes with mustaches and accordions and, of course, tacos.

It feels like a great, beautiful girl that got away and started dating an abusive drug dealing boyfriend.

[Fake Sugar Dick (WARNING, NOT THE REAL SUGAR DICK!)]

Unfortunately Polk was right about its "unsavory population", no thanks

 

[OregonSmock]

The future is not important.  The oil supply will last forever.

[EPAW]

The future is not important.  The oil supply will last forever.

I mailed you a rattle snake all jacked up on cocaine. Have fun with that one!

[OregonSmock]

The future is not important.  The oil supply will last forever.

I mailed you a rattle snake all jacked up on cocaine. Have fun with that one!

 

[Fake Sugar Dick (WARNING, NOT THE REAL SUGAR DICK!)]

The future is not important.  The oil supply will last forever.

Yes BMW when the environment is at stake we need to look long term.


When the economy is at stake and the population is suffering we need not look no further than the next presidential election and to some short term road projects. 

When the deficit is spiraling out of control, and SS and Medicare payments equal government revenues, the solution is to redline those entitlements from reform, think 2012, and propose insignificant tax increases that can't service the interest payments on the deficit for one month out of the year.

 


BMW would vote for a pedophile serial killer if he had (D) next to his name.  Then he'd come to the PIT and explain why pedophiles are a product of their society and the people murdered would have died anyway.

[OregonSmock]

1.  We need to upgrade our alternative energy system before it's too late.  That means we need to invest now.

2.  When the economy is at stake and people are suffering, we need to act now.  People who are losing their homes to foreclosures and living on food stamps don't have 14 months to wait for Congress to quit playing a bunch of bullshit political games.

3.  When the deficit is spiraling out of control, we need to cut spending and increase revenue.  You can't fix the entire budget deficit by simply cutting spending.  Millionaires have had the lowest capital gains taxes in modern history, as well as some of the lowest income taxes in modern history.  The capital gains tax was 28% during the Reagan administration, and Reagan is worshiped by the mouth breathers on the right.

4.  All President Obama has asked for is for millionaires to pay their fair share of taxes.  It's not right when Warren Buffet pays less in effective tax rates than his secretary.  It's not right when Main Street bails out Wall Street and then gets a big middle finger in return.  It's not right when President Obama proposes ideas that Republicans have openly supported for years (such as lowering the pay roll tax and opening up free trade with countries like South Korea) and Republicans simply give him the middle finger.

So far, President Obama has extended the Bush era tax cuts, overseen the assassination of bin Laden, reduced troop levels in Iraq, brought democracy to the Middle East, cut government spending, repealed Don't Ask Don't Tell, reformed health care, discouraged federal drug raids on state-sanctioned marijuana dispensaries, etc, etc.  If that's the worst we can do, I will vote for that 100% of the time.  We'd be in even worse shape right now if McCain/Palin were in office.

[john "teach me how to" dougie]

1.  We need to upgrade our alternative energy system before it's too late.  That means we need to invest now.

2.  When the economy is at stake and people are suffering, we need to act now.  People who are losing their homes to foreclosures and living on food stamps don't have 14 months to wait for Congress to quit playing a bunch of bullshit political games.

3.  When the deficit is spiraling out of control, we need to cut spending and increase revenue.  You can't fix the entire budget deficit by simply cutting spending.  Millionaires have had the lowest capital gains taxes in modern history, as well as some of the lowest income taxes in modern history.  The capital gains tax was 28% during the Reagan administration, and Reagan is worshiped by the mouth breathers on the right.

4.  All President Obama has asked for is for millionaires to pay their fair share of taxes.  It's not right when Warren Buffet pays less in effective tax rates than his secretary.  It's not right when Main Street bails out Wall Street and then gets a big middle finger in return.  It's not right when President Obama proposes ideas that Republicans have openly supported for years (such as lowering the pay roll tax and opening up free trade with countries like South Korea) and Republicans simply give him the middle finger.

So far, President Obama has extended the Bush era tax cuts, overseen the assassination of bin Laden, reduced troop levels in Iraq, brought democracy to the Middle East, cut government spending, repealed Don't Ask Don't Tell, reformed health care, discouraged federal drug raids on state-sanctioned marijuana dispensaries, etc, etc.  If that's the worst we can do, I will vote for that 100% of the time.  We'd be in even worse shape right now if McCain/Palin were in office.

I heard Obama give this speech already.

[theKSU]

I'm listening to an interesting theory from this guy who says we hit peak oil per capita in 1979, and that the economic crisis of 2008 was triggered by $150 oil.  He may or may not be right on the second part, but we're going to continually be in wars over resources if we don't look for some alternative energy sources.  His claim is that the Germans are way ahead of us on this and have moved to a decentralized renewable resource model. 

Big oil companies are worried that we could get serious about alternative energy and it's going to negatively effect them.  Did you know the Koch brothers went from $6B in 2004 to $50B in 2010, mainly due to the huge run up in oil prices.  This is why they've become so involved in politics.  They are awash in money and have a vested interest in keeping America on the oil tit forever. 

Wouldn't it be preferable to prop up small American businesses using the resources we already have to create a new energy economy, rather than handing it over Saudi Sheiks and super-rich oil investors? 

[john "teach me how to" dougie]

I'm listening to an interesting theory from this guy who says we hit peak oil per capita in 1979, and that the economic crisis of 2008 was triggered by $150 oil.  He may or may not be right on the second part, but we're going to continually be in wars over resources if we don't look for some alternative energy sources.  His claim is that the Germans are way ahead of us on this and have moved to a decentralized renewable resource model. 

Big oil companies are worried that we could get serious about alternative energy and it's going to negatively effect them.  Did you know the Koch brothers went from $6B in 2004 to $50B in 2010, mainly due to the huge run up in oil prices.  This is why they've become so involved in politics.  They are awash in money and have a vested interest in keeping America on the oil tit forever. 

Wouldn't it be preferable to prop up small American businesses using the resources we already have to create a new energy economy, rather than handing it over Saudi Sheiks and super-rich oil investors? 

Eff them for employing 50,000 Americans. Bastards. And screw them for investing in oil commodities at the right time. Sonofa bitches.  Smart people piss me off. I want what they have and I'm really jealous.

[Rage Against the McKee]

I'm listening to an interesting theory from this guy who says we hit peak oil per capita in 1979, and that the economic crisis of 2008 was triggered by $150 oil.  He may or may not be right on the second part, but we're going to continually be in wars over resources if we don't look for some alternative energy sources.  His claim is that the Germans are way ahead of us on this and have moved to a decentralized renewable resource model. 

Big oil companies are worried that we could get serious about alternative energy and it's going to negatively effect them.  Did you know the Koch brothers went from $6B in 2004 to $50B in 2010, mainly due to the huge run up in oil prices.  This is why they've become so involved in politics.  They are awash in money and have a vested interest in keeping America on the oil tit forever. 

Wouldn't it be preferable to prop up small American businesses using the resources we already have to create a new energy economy, rather than handing it over Saudi Sheiks and super-rich oil investors? 

Eff them for employing 50,000 Americans. Bastards. And screw them for investing in oil commodities at the right time. Sonofa bitches.  Smart people piss me off. I want what they have and I'm really jealous.

The USPS employs 574,000 people, and I'm sure you would like to see them fail.